Betta Splendens
by 2211Nighthawk
Summary: "What is this?" Jazz straightened, glancing at the bowl, his grin still in place. "Tha' Prowler," he said, returning his gaze to Prowl's "is ah Betta splendens. Also known as ah-" "Siamese fighting fish or a betta fish." Prowl finished. "I know what it is, why is it on my desk?" cute oneshot that popped into my head. G1 Universe. Prowl centric. Title is scientific name for a betta


**So this is what happens when my brain gets in a rut and refuses to get out. I have fish of my own and I know how relaxing they are to watch. Instantly the thought of Prowl getting a fish came to mind and so this happened. Its rough cause I just typed it. And considering it is after 1 where I am, I think its pretty good. **

**So enjoy, this is just a funny concept I came up with.**

**Set in G1 universe. (Yeah! First one, hope to get more)**

* * *

><p>Prowl stood with his arms crossed over his chassis, doorwings stiff behind his shoulders and frosted Bluestreak with a look. Said mech was sheepishly shifted from ped to ped, his servos held out before him. The creature in his servos watched Prowl with huge green eyes in a grey striped face.<p>

"Come on Prowl, please?" The gunner begged, his gaze everywhere but on his mentor, adoptive older brother and superior officer. "I'll make sure she stays out of our way, she can stay in my room. Please? Come on Prowl."

Prowl dropped his gaze to the creature again. It lazily glanced up at Bluestreak, standing up with a loud 'mrrow' and arching its back, purring loud enough that Prowl could hear.

"How many times have I told you-" He started to say.

"-That I'm not allowed to keep pets in the Ark. I know I know I know you tell me that every other day but Sadie is different. She's really sweet and listens and hasn't scratched anything and Hound thinks she's adorable and I _promise_ I'll keep her out of the way and-"

"No." Prowl stated, interrupting Bluestreak's rant. "It is far too dangerous for a cat to be in this base and I know you would be in a worse mood if someone stepped on it then if I just said 'no' to begin with."

Bluestreak's doorwings dropped, his face falling.

Prowl stepped closer, reaching out and resting a servo on Bluestreak's shoulder guard. "It's better if you find it, her, a home among humans."

Bluestreak nodded sadly, his optics on the cat in his servos. His doorwings suddenly perked up and he glanced at Prowl with a pleading look again. Prowl braced himself for more begging but was surprised, and proud, of his question.

"Will you help me look for a place?" Blue asked quietly. Prowl let his lip plates quirk up into a small smile.

"Yes, I will help you do that if you promise not to bring any more creatures into the Ark." Prowl said. Bluestreak nodded vigorously but Prowl knew that Bluestreak was far too soft sparked to not bring any more pets into the Ark. It was only a matter of time before once again he had to face that adorable face and say no to his latest find.

xxXXxx

Prowl didn't even glance at the key pad as he typed in the code and walked in. The door hissed shut behind him as he walked around his desk, settling into his chair, still having yet to look around. With a scowl he finally set the datapad aside.

_Jazz has _got_ to work on properly filling out his reports_. He though darkly. Then glanced at the datapad again, taping the screen to turn it on. _And actually handing them in on time, not a month and a half late._

He let the screen go dark again and reached for another datapad. His digits brushed against something that didn't belong on his spotless desk surface and his optics darted to the small glass bowl sitting just off to the right. He stared at it for half a second before he blinked sharply in confusion, his servo still floating over the datapad he had been reaching for.

Bluestreak had managed to find a home for 'Sadie' almost two months ago and as of yet, had tried to smuggle two more cats, three dogs, a dozen baby birds, four rabbits, and his latest, a fawn, in to the Ark. Each time he had been forced to find them homes, or in the rabbits and fawn's case, release them back into the wild.

This was the first time he had tried to smuggle _this_ into the Ark. As soon as he considered it he dismissed Bluestreak as the culprit because Bluestreak tried, and failed, to hide the animals on him. This was deliberately left on his desk for him to find. That left only one other mech…

At that moment Jazz waltzed into his office, 12,000 watt smile plastered on his face as his visor flashed.

"How's tah Prowler?" He asked in his thick accent, grinning at his fellow black and white mech. Said mech didn't even acknowledge him, still staring at the water filled glass bowl.

"Jazz?" He asked cautiously, keeping his tone neutral as he slowly placed his servo back on the table.

"Yeah Prowler?" Jazz responded, still grinning as he casually leaned on the back of the chair facing Prowl's desk.

"What is this?"

Jazz straightened, glancing at the bowl, his grin still in place.

"Tha' Prowler," he said, returning his gaze to Prowl's "is ah Betta splendens. Also known as ah-"

"Siamese fighting fish or a betta fish." Prowl finished. "I know _what_ it is, why is it on my desk?"

Jazz once again glanced at the bowl with a shrug.

"Ya need ah pet Prowl. Someone tha' wont drive ya screwy." He said simply. "Even Ah know tha' everyone in this boat is runnin' on half ah processor. Includin' Prime."

"Why? There is no use for…pets… in this Ark. _I _have no use for a 'pet'. A _fish_ the least of all." Prowl stated, his gaze abruptly snapping up to Jazz's. Again, the black and white mech shrugged.

"There doesn't have tah be ah point. Besides. Watchin' fish is supposed tah be relaxin'."

"I don't need to relax. There is _nothing_ on this Ark that would give me _any _excuse to relax. You said so yourself. Nobody on this Ark is remotely close to sane. _Including_ Prime." Prowl said bluntly, scowling at Jazz. His glare said it all. _Most of all you._

Jazz's grin got impossibly bigger.

"An' don't ya know it."

With that, the mech abruptly spun on his ped and walked right back out the door. Prowl continued to stare after the mech, then remembered why he had called the mech there to begin with. The report.

"Oh!" Jazz abruptly stuck his helm back in his office. Prowl's gaze snapped up to him. "Don't forget tah feed it twice ah day."

Prowl followed the direction Jazz was pointing to the window ledge. A miniscule plastic container full of some kind of pellets sat in the ledge. He stared at it, then back at Jazz.

But he was gone.

Jazz had bought him a fish.

The mech was out of his fraggin processor. But he had known that for a _very _long time. His gaze drifted back to the bowl and the tiny creature inside it.

A quick internet search stated that it was a male Halfmoon betta. It was a fairly common type, called that because the tail fins 'flared' 180 degrees. It's body was a striking deep metallic blue while the fins were a vibrant red. Truth be told, it was a very pretty creature.

He frowned.

It just did not belong in his office. He would have to remember to ask Jazz to take it back tomorrow. But then he remembered that it was Saturday evening. The mall where Jazz had no doubt gotten the fish was not open till Monday.

His gaze drifted back to the fish as it continued swimming around it's bowl. It wasn't like one of the other 'pets' that Bluestreak tried to bring home. It was completely quiet, didn't make a mess and all you had to do was feed it and keep the water clean.

Maybe it wouldn't be the end of the world to care of it till Monday. But then it was going back.

Again he reached for the datapad, careful not to bump the bowl again. Turning it on, he started scanning the text, optics darting across the screen as he took in Jazz's overall lack of detail and professionalism.

Starscream and his goons decided to try their hand at tramping a power station somewhere between Cincinnati and Parkersburg.

_A range of 190 miles._ Prowl though.

Me, Bluestreak and the Twins jumped on Skyfire and he flew us there. Ended up sending Starscream, Thundercracker, Skywarp and Astrotrain packing after we taught them a lesson they won't forget any time soon.

_Ended with the Twins in medbay after another failed attempt at 'Jet Judo' and Skyfire with a Sideswipe shaped hole in his roof after he fell off of Thundercracker._

Sideswipe ended up taking out Skyfire when TC threw him but other than that the mission was a pass.

_Ratchet was on a ranting spree for two hours._

Oh yeah, the Con's didn't get what they were after, there was minimal damage to the building,

_It was leveled._

And we got to see the end of a rock concert so that was a plus!

With a sigh he set the datapad down, his processor ready to glitch. A two day mission and Jazz summed it up in less than a paragraph. It was more than enough to annoy him to no end. As the fact that the mission had been on the 15 of July and it was now the 21st of August. He had expected that report on the 17th. Of July.

He set it on top of the previous, late, report and happened to glance at the fish on his desk. Even though he knew it was completely illogical, he could have sworn that the fish realised it was being watched and puffed up, it's fins spreading to their full size and striking blue and red colors in an obvious effort to show off.

He found his attention wandering, just watching the fish swimming around it's bowl and for a brief moment he was reminded of the colors of Praxus. Blues, greens, reds, yellows, pinks and every color imaginable as well as the sounds of the Crystal Gardens.

His optics refocused on the fish.

It was watching him, then took off swimming again.

Overall, it was…

…a little relaxing.

Ha. If Jazz could see him now he'd never let him forget it.

Leaning back in his chair slightly, he let his doorwings drop a little from their rigid place and picked up the next datapad.

_Joy. Ratchet's medical report, also a month late._ He thought, shooting the fish a look. The fish merely flipped over itself and went the other way, still circling it's bowl in a very calming matter like it didn't have a care in the world.

xxXXxx

Three weeks later

xxXXxx

"Uh Jazz?" Sideswipe asked, walking into the rec room and over the black and white mech. Jazz looked up from his very serious discussion with Blaster on who had the better playlist to glance at the red mech.

"Wha's crackin' Sides?"

"What's up with Prowl?" Sides asked.

Jazz straightened in his chair.

"Wha's wrong with 'im?" Jazz asked cautiously. It was a known fact that Jazz was one of the only mechs that could get the mech away from his desk other than a direct order from Prime or a death threat from Ratchet.

"I think he's…" Sides trailed off, glancing at his twin as the yellow mech walked up.

"Prowl is talking to himself." Sunstreaker said bluntly.

Jazz blinked at the Twins for a good two seconds.

"He's _what?!_" Jazz managed to sputter.

"He's talking to someone in his office. Problem is, there isn't any other spark signatures." Sides said.

"And you know that… how?" Blaster asked, gaining the other's attentions.

"If you're implying that we were going to tape his door with plastic wrap you are mistaken." Sideswipe said in a huff.

"I didn't imply anything. I asked a question." Blaster countered with a grin. "Oh and plastic wrap doesn't work with Praxians. I've already tried that. They can tell it's there."

Both Jazz and the Twins shot Blaster a look.

"What!" He objected, throwing his servos up in surrender. "I pulled my fair share of pranks on superiors."

"Your evil." Sideswipe deadpanned.

"I know." Blaster said with a grin.

"Waitaminite." Jazz interrupted, throwing his servo up in Sideswipe's faceplates. He had just remembered something.

"What. What's wait a minute?" Sideswipe asked as a bigger grin then usually spread across Jazz's features. The black and white mech suddenly started to laugh

"Ah know who's in his office." He said, pausing to catch his breath.

"Who!" Sunstreaker demanded.

"It's tha' fish Ah got 'im!" Jazz yelled before he bolted out of his chair, nearly running over Sideswipe as he sprinted out of the rec room. The Twins and Blaster shared a look before they also turned tail and sprinted after Jazz.

xxXXxx

"Shut up! I'm trying to listen." Sideswipe hissed, his audio pressed against Prowl's office door not half a minute later.

"Well if you'd get your elbow out of my neck-" Sunstreaker hissed, also trying to listen.

"Both of ya, shut up!" Jazz snapped. "Ee'll hear ya."

"You shut up!" the Twins hissed as Jazz gave them a dark look. He was about to say something but Blaster clapping a servo over his mouth.

"**All of you shut it!"** Blaster growled over their comms, glaring at them. They didn't make a sound and a moment later Blaster also had his audio against the office door.

xxXXxx

"And another half written report from Jazz…" Prowl muttered, setting the datapad aside. "Also late. The mech knows the top 100 songs of the week but ask him to fill out a simple report correctly and he suddenly forgets how to do that."

He glanced up at Praxus. The betta was watching him closely and seeing as he had the mech's attention, proceeded to take off on another round around his bowl. Prowl smirked before returning to his reports. Another medical report from Ratchet, but this one was on time. A surprise. Almost immediately his gaze drifted back to the betta.

"You have no idea how luck you are that you don't have to deal with the Twins." Prowl said out loud, scanning the report. Apparently they had attempted to fill Ironhide's rifle with… confetti? He continued scanning the report, trying not to think too hard on the matter in case he made himself glitch. Which would put the CMO in an even worse mood then he normally was in.

"Ah. That's why it's on time. First Aid filled it out."

He kept reading the report, muttering different parts out loud before filing away a copy and setting the original aside to return to Aid for his own files.

A soft thump at the door had him glancing up sharply. When nothing happened he continued to work, Praxus watching him the entire time.

xxXXxx

"What are you doing?" A soft and very confused voice asked.

Jazz jumped, knocking into Blaster who was listening above him and making him shoot a servo out against the wall to catch himself. The quiet thump sounded like a gunshot in the hallway and the four eavesdroppers froze, hearing Prowl stop talking.

"I said-!"

"Shut it Blue!" Sunny hissed, lunging toward the grey Praxian and lamping his servo over the mech's mouth.

"**Prowler's talking tah 'is fish."** Jazz commed with a grin.

Bluestreak stared at him in confusion.

"**Fish? What fish? I didn't know Prowl had a fish. Wait, why does Prowl have a fish? I mean, I get that they are supposed to be relaxing to watch but- wait. What!? Why does Prowl get to have a pet! Yeah I mean he's the superior officer and everything but-"**

"**Blue!" **Sides interrupted.

"**Ah bought him ah fish as ah joke. Ah can't believe he's kept it."** Jazz said, returning to the door.

"**And now you're eavesdropping on him?"** Blue asked, walking over.

"**Yeah, it's pretty funny. He calls the fish Pra-"** Sides started to say before Sunstreaker jabbed his elbow into his side. Sideswipe gasped for air, having been completely winded.

"**Calls it what?"** Blue asked, confused on how they were acting.

"**Not important."** Jazz said, waving his servo in a dismissive way, audio back against the door.

"**Ee's talkin' again!"**

Imminently all five mechs were up against the door trying to listen.

"-and that's one of the tamest pranks they've pulled." Prowl was saying. "You should have seen the colorful report that Ratchet left me after they decided to rearrange his medbay. I was certain that I would be filling out a death certificate that day."

"**He's serious talking to a fish."** Bluestreak asked, unable to hide the shock and amusement on his faceplates. Jazz, not three inches from his with his audio against the wall grinned.

"**Ah'm workin' on tha' too." **Jazz replied, shifting slightly for a better angle. Above him Blaster was listening in while Sunstreaker was sandwiched between Sideswipe and Bluestreak as they all listened in.

"-Not to mention the slag Prime has pulled on me."

"**Did he just say slag?! Primus, the mech has lost it." **Sideswipe commented.

"**Congrads Jazz. You broke Prowl before we did."** Sunstreaker said with a slight grin.

"- drops a plan in my lap and expects me to figure it out in less than a second. Course with the Twins being themselves, Jazz being himself… actually everyone makes it hard to figure anything out. They are too many variable. Most of all Jazz. I swear, the mech doesn't even have a processor sometimes."

Blaster, quietly, thumped Jazz on the helm, trying to sallow his laughter.

"**Oi! Easy on tah horns!"** Jazz objected.

"**Not that there's anything in there."** Blaster teased.

"- don't even know where to start with Blaster. He's a good mech but a horrible taste in music."

Blaster jerked upright. At the last second he remembered to use comms.

"**Now just wait a dog gone minute! I have great taste in music!" **

"**Sure ya do."** Jazz replied cheekily, shooting the red mech a look. Blaster scowled at him but quickly returned to his post.

"- with Bluestreak. A sweet mech. He really is. You know a raised him. Ever since I found him…. He's like a brother to me."

"**Awww!"** Everyone gushed, making Bluestreak blush horribly.

"-just has a habit of trying to adopt every animal that crosses his path. He tried to smuggle a deer in here. Red Alert nearly glitched. Of course, thanks to all those security cameras we were able to track Blue down."

Bluestreak realised it a second too late.

"Uh, guys-"

His warning never made it out as suddenly the door slid open, sending everyone except Bluestreak crashing to the ground inside Prowl's office. The black and white mech was standing in front of his desk, arms cross over his chassis, doorwings stiff as boards on his back, glaring at them.

"Can I help you?" He asked darkly.

"Prowl! What are you doing here?" Sideswipe demanded. He was instantly slugged in the side of the helm by Sunstreaker, of whom he had landed on.

"Glitch, it's his office! Now get off of me!" Sunstreaker yelled, forcibly shoving his brother off of him.

"I think I broke Jazz." Blaster spoke up, carefully getting off the groaning mech. Considering the considerable size difference, it made sense that the black and white mech looked squashed.

"Care to explain to me what you were doing eaves dropping at my office door?" Prowl asked again.

"Air draft…"Jazz managed to force out.

"Yeah! Grapple said that some of the doors were leaky so we were making sure that each door sealed properly. Don't want anyone getting too cold…? Sideswipe trailed off with a grin from where he was now upside down on his helm against the front of Prowl's desk.

"Get out." Prowl barked and the four mechs fled, Bluestreak having already long disappeared. As soon as they were gone, Prowl turned back to Praxus.

"What I'd tell you." He said simply. "I'm surrounded by idiots."

xxXXxx

Four months later.

xxXXxx

He was dead.

He was so dead.

And Prowl was gonna make sure that twisted warped excuse of an aftermarket driveshaft was in so many pieces they could feed him though a shredder.

His doorwings were flared wide in anger, servos fisted at his side and his optics flashing. He was completely quiet though as he stalked into the rec room and made a beeline for a single mech sitting at table with Jazz, Sunstreaker, Hound, and Mirage.

Sideswipe had no warning as the back of his chair was grabbed and jerked backwards. With a loud and dignified squawk he tried to bail out of the rapidly falling chair but still ended up flat on his back, staring at the ceiling and an enraged Prowl.

"Whatever they said I did, I didn't do." He shot back.

"I'm sure you didn't. Now where is Praxus."

The comment made Sideswipe pause, arms crossed over his chest as his twin smacked him over their bond.

"Praxus? You mean the tall skinny seeker femme that was here last week? Or the tiny red minibot? Oh! You mean Wheeljack's latest toy. Nope. Sorry. Can't say that I've seen-…"

Sideswipe trailed off as the glare he had been getting was now to the point where he could feel the paint coming off his chassis. "-… them?"

"I will say it in small words so that your empty, under-developed, rust ridden processor can understand me." Prowl nearly growled, his doorwings framing his frame and making him for more intimidating then Sides' ever remembered.

"Where. Is. My. Fish."

At that, everyone at the table burst out laughing, exactly what Prowl was saying making Hound and Mirage do a spit take.

"Fish… hum… nope. No fish." Sideswipe said with a shrug. Considering he was still flat on his back, it was a little difficult.

A sudden, audio shattering scream filled the air making everyone jump.

"Oh. That fish." Sideswipe muttered as Prowl bolted out of the room.

"What the frag did you do?!" Sunstreaker demanded, giving his brother a good kick to the side.

"Ow! Hey! Lay off!" Sides objected, rolling away from his twin and staggering to his peds. The fall had made his helm spin. "You know how Elita and her femmes are here for a while?"

"You didn't." Sunstreaker hissed.

"Ee did." Jazz cackled, laughing uncontrollably now at the situation and the look of complete confusion on Mirage's and Hound's faceplates.

"Great. I'll see you in Florida." Sunstreaker deadpanned before he turned around and stalked out of the room.

"Hey! Wait for me!" Sideswipe yelled, running after Sunstreaker. He pulled up short as Sunstreaker spun around, jabbing a digit into Sideswipe's chest plates.

"Oh no you don't. You've gotten me in enough trouble before. You are _not_ getting the entire _femme firing squad _on my aft!"

"Come one, who doesn't want to be chased by a horde of energon thirsty femmes?" Sideswipe countered. Sunstreaker only shot him a murderous look before once again turning and stalking out of the room.

xxXXxx

With the recent arrivals of Elita-1, Chromia, Moonracer, Arcee, and Firestar, the Ark had gone under some major renovations. All of which Praxus got to see as Prowl filled out page after page of permits, reports, requests, and other paperwork. One of the first things rebuild in the Ark were proper rooms for the femmes that had a strict 'No Mech' rule. Of which was punishable by death at the servos of said femmes.

Another such build was femme only wash racks. And while the mechs were used to just scrubbing the grime from their armor, the femmes enjoyed a nice soak in warm water to loosen the mud before showering it off.

It was just as Elita and her femmes were just about to relax in the water when Moonracer notice the blue and red _thing_ floating in the water.

"Uh… Elita? What is that?" She asked, standing at the edge of the pool with her servos on her hips.

"Don't know but I'm getting in." Chromia muttered, easily sinking into the water with a deep sigh.

"Well, scoop it out. I don't know what it is." Moonracer objected, taking a step closer to the water but no closer to the _thing_.

"Racer, I'm sure it won't hurt you." Elita said with a smirk, nudging her sister-in-arms.

"You sure? I'm still not sure about this planet." Chromia muttered.

"Well, I don't know about you femmes but I'm just happy to be near Inferno again." Firestar crooned with a star struck look in her optics. The femmes laughed, either glad to see their mates after millions of years apart or for their sisters that had bonded.

"Chromia, just get it out!" Moonracer objected seeing Chromia poke the thing.

"Relax 'Racer. It won't-"

The blue femme was cut off as the _thing_ suddenly moved, shooting off like a dart toward the edge of the pool and with a very un-Chromia like scream, Chromia was out of the water.

"The frag is that?!" Chromia demanded, angry that such a small thing had scared her. She nearly jumped out of her armor as someone pounded on the door.

"Are you alright!"

xxXXxx

"Are you alright!" Prowl demanded, pounding on the door to the femmes' wash racks again. He had heard Chromia's enraged demand and knew that it was Praxus that had terrified them. His logic circuit twitched that such a femme as Chromia would be scared of a simple organic creature but he didn't need to crash. Not right now.

The door slid open just as he was about to knock again and Elita was standing there.

The sight of the regal looking pink and white femme still caught Prowl off guard every time and again he had to wonder how Prime managed to win her over. She was a very strong willed female and didn't let anyone tell her what to do.

"I believe you have something that's mine." Prowl said respectfully.

"Excuse me?" Elita asked in surprise.

"The scream. I believe you found my fish."

Elita blinked at him again.

"Well come and get the fraggin thing!"

Chromia's yell made his audios ring but Elita let him in. He stepped into the room and froze.

He was in the femmes wash racks.

Ironhide, Inferno, and Prime were going to terminate him.

"It's still in the water. Whatever it is." Moonracer said, back up against the wall and staring at a point in the pool of water. Prowl easily followed her gaze to the once again floating blue and red form.

"Oh no…" Prowl murmured, walking around to the other side to carefully reach out a servo and cup the fish in his servo. While his scanners were nowhere near what Ratchet's were, he did know that the water was far too hot for the fish and that it barely had a heartbeat.

Ignoring the now very curious femmes around him, he subspaced the bowl he had gotten Praxus in, gently tipping the water and fish in his servo into the bowl. For a while, the fish didn't move and he though for certain that he had terminated.

"It moved." Moonracer said, still staring at him from across the water. "I saw it. It twitched."

Sure enough, a second later and the red and blue betta was swimming around the bowl as happy as could be and Prowl was uncomfortably aware of the femmes surrounding him and completely fascinated by the fish.

xxXXxx

Two years later

xxXXxx

Prowl stared at the empty fish bowl. For once, he wished that Sideswipe had puled another stunt like dropping the poor fish into the femmes' wash racks.

But he knew that the red frontliner hadn't done anything. Not after the femmes told their bonded exactly what had happened and Inferno and Ironhide tried to beat Sideswipe into a messy pulp. Prowl himself was only spared the same fact because Eleta said how he had 'saved them from the monster'. To which Chromia had huffed in annoyance and stalked away too much laughter.

No. This was much worse.

The internet page that he had gone back to multiply times as Praxus flourished said that they only lived for a few years.

The precious fish was three when Prowl had walked into his office to see the once bright blue and red betta resting on the bottom of the bowl. He colors were faded and Prowl couldn't see a flutter of fins or gills. While he knew it was illogical to feel sad about an organic creature that was small enough to fall between the plates of armor on his palm and lived barley two years, he couldn't help but feel a sense of loss. He had named the fish after his home city. The rich blue and vibrant red were reminders of a happier time when he himself didn't have a care in the world.

And Jazz, the slagger, was right.

Everyone had notice the change in the black and white mech. The subtle twitching of his doorwings as they relaxed, the fact that he only threw Sideswipe out of his office on his helm when he came crashing down thought the vents and the fact that he even let Jazz convince him into a drinking game, and won, were all proof that the mech was finally staring to relax a little and enjoy life.

But now…

With a deep sigh he turned back to reports.

His optics still glanced over at the empty bowl which he had carefully cleaned and left to dry. Jazz had said that he could take it away but instead he had wanted to keep the bowl. A reminder he had said. Jazz hadn't said anything but just nodded and left it at that. He-

"Prowl!"

His optics snapped to his office door, his previous train of thought forgotten as Red burst into his office, sensor horns sparking as he nearly gave himself another panic attack.

"Decepticons!" He gasped. "Decepticons a few miles away."

"I'll take a team." Prowl said, already out of his chair and moving. Maybe a fight would put him in a better mood. Primus knows he wanted to hit something.

xxXXxx

The Decepticons were gone by the time Prowl, Ironhide, Huffer, Gears, and Trailbreaker showed up. They had no choice but to return to the Ark

"Well that was a complete waste of time." Gears complained, stalking down the hall, Huffer following behind him to add to his own complaining.

"Hey Prowl." Ironhide spoke up. The mech glanced at him. "You alright? You seem... distance."

"I'm fine Ironhide." Prowl reassured him, forcing his doorwings up to their normal position and his usually emotionless mask slipping into place and he walked off.

"Sure you are." He heard Ironhide muttered behind his back.

He ignored the red mech and headed down the hall to his office. At least then he could bury himself in paperwork and, hopefully, forget about Praxus.

The door slid open easily and Prowl took one step on before freezing in shock.

Jazz was sitting in _his_ chair, peds popped up in _his _desk with a massive grin on his faceplates.

Bluestreak was in the other guest chair, his ped propped up on his knee and also grinning.

Covering his desk were clear glass jars.

Some were near perfect spheres.

Some were triangular.

Some were thin tubes.

Some had fat bodies with thin spouts.

Some were wide and tall.

Some were all curves.

Some were nothing more than a serving dish.

He even saw a clean energon cube.

And every single one had a betta fish in it.

"What-…" Prowl stammered, the door nearly closing on his doorwings.

"Wha' do ya think Prowler?" Jazz asked, still with a grin.

"But… how… What…?" Prowl continued to stammer, walking over to his desk and looking at all the fish.

There were veils, double veils, deltas, halfsuns, crowns, spades, roses and halfmoons. Every color and pattern from solid reds to bi-color green and reds to a brilliant blue butterfly to a rich red and white dragon.

"We knew you missed your fish." Bluestreak said from beside him. Prowl wasn't sure when the mech had moved. "So Jazz and I raided a few pet stores. We didn't know what kind you wanted next."

"So weh took 'em all!" Jazz finished, throwing his hands up in the air for emphasis. Bluestreak openly laughed at the sight while Prowl continued to look at the fish in wonder. The fact that they would go through the effort to find a single _fish_ for him was unbelievable.

"Prowl?" Bluestreak asked in a quiet voice, doorwings dropping flat against his back.

"Yes?"

"I know you said that no pets were allowed in the Ark but I was wondering…" Bluestreak trailed off. With a barely there smile Prowl carefully reached for the vivid green crown tail betta that he had seen Bluestreak eyeing.

"Yes Bluestreak." He said, setting the curing glass jar on the mech's open servo. "You can keep him."

Bluestreak ginned before carefully setting the jar down. For a moment Prowl though he had picked the wrong fish when Bluestreak suddenly threw his arms around Prowl's neck, catching the mech completely off guard.

"Thanks Prowl." He whispered before he had let go, carefully scooped up the glass jar, and bolted out of the office to no doubt show off his latest find.

"Wha' about ya Prowl?" Jazz asked with a smile. "Which one are ya gonna pick this time?"

Prowl's gaze swept the desk again. His optics caught on a single betta and this time he didn't bother to try and hold back the smile.

It was the same old bowl but with a new fish now.

"Ah figured it would be tha' one." Jazz said with a nod. "So wha' ya gonna call him?"

"We're rebuilding Cybertron." Prowl said, examining the betta. "New Iacon is well on its way to becoming a functional city."

"Maybe Praxus can be rebuild as well?" Jazz suggested.

Prowl immediately caught the mech's double meaning.

"Yes." He said, his gaze once again focusing on the betta. "New Praxus does have a nice ring to it.

Inside the bowl the betta flared, showing off his metallic blue body and vivid red fins in a stunning display of color.

* * *

><p><strong>Hope you guys liked it. <strong>

**-2211Nighthawk**


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